Console closure support



SePt- 5, 1967 R. c. BENCENE I 3339,995

CONSOLE CLOSURE SUPPORT 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 1.'7, 1965 .Q 05527 c. BEA/CEN ATTOPNEYS SP- 5, 1967 R. c. BENCENE CONSOLE CLOSURE SUPPORT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. l7, 1965 INVENTOR.

ROBERT CBE/VCE/VE ATTORNEYS SePt- 5, 1967 R. c. BENCENE 3,33999Q5 CONSOLE CLOSURE SUPPORT Filed Nov. 1 7, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I y M1131 INVEN'TOR. ROBERT BENCE/VE ATTOINEYS United States Patent O 3,339,995 CONSOLE CLOSURE SUPPORT Robert C. Bencene, Jamestown, N.Y., assignor to Weber-Knapp Company, Jamestown, N.Y. Filed Nov. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 508,281 6 Claims. (Cl. 312-322) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A support for a door panel whereby the 'door when swung outwardly is allowed thereafter -to be pushed inwardly to a concealed position. The support includes guide tracks and guides cooperating to allow the door to be positioned -adjustably in closed position.

This invention relates to cabinets of the console type; and more particularly to disappearing door type enclosures, useful such as for example in television cabinets; record players; clothes closets; or the like.V

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved support mechanism for vertically standing, horizontally swinging door panels, such as may be used for covering the front face or open front portions of console cabinets or the like.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a device as aforesaid,"characterized by the fact that it embodies improved means permitting adjustments of the alig'nments of the doors as closures -relative to the cabinet, both when open 'and closed; said alignment adjustments being totally independent, one of the other; whereby adjustments in either case will not influence the operational adjustme'nts of the other.- v

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device as aforesaid wherein the door or closure means of the 'cabinet are at all times ;freely movable into '*disappearing position in the cabinet, with utmost ease and facility land without frictional binding of the relatively moving parts. t

Another object of the invention is to .provide an improved cabinet 'front cover or door Suspension device as aforesaid; characterized by the fact that the user, subsequent to opening of the door, may With improved facility slidably retract the door into "disappearing position interiorly of the cabinet, simply by applying slight manual pressures against any conveniently lavailable portions of the door panel.

Other more` specific objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following specification and the accompanying drawing, wherein: l

FIG. 1 is a' front elevation-al view of a typically styled television cabinet or the like having a pair of front cover doors and embodying Suspension devices therefor of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, on enlarged scale,

Z, FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as suggested by line 6-6 of FIG. l, showing a detail of the door motion Vcontrol mechanism of the invention;

PIG. 7`is a fragmentary sectional view taken as suggested by line 7-7 of FIG. 6;` I

Patented Sept. 5, 1967 as suggested by line 9-9 of FIG. 1.

As shown by way of example in the drawing herewith, the invention is embodied in a television cabinet or the like comprising 1a generally rectangular casing 10 which may be constructed of any preferred materials as to comprise opposite outside wall panels 12-12; a top plate 14; a bottom plate 16; and a front frame portion 18 presenting a rectangularly shaped central aperture through which the television screen or the like may be viewed. A pair of Vertical stiles 19-19 are also provided at opposite sides of the cabinet in spaccd relation inside the outer front frame structure 18, to provide therebetween disappearing door accommodating spaces (FIGS. 3-4) and to cover from view the door control mechanism as will be explained more fully hereinafter. For covering the open front of the cabinet and the instrumentation enclosed within the cabinet, as illustrated herein by way of example to comprise the picture surface of a television tube, such means may comprise a pair of hinged door panels designated generally at 20-20; although it is to be understood of course that in lieu of the dual door arrangement as shown herein, any other preferred number of door panels may be employed, such as a single door panel, or multiples thereof.

As shown herein, the door panels 20-20 are each hingedly connected as indicated at 22 adjacent theupper `and lower levels thereof by means of hinge leaves 23, 24; the hinge parts 24-24 in turn pivotally engaging upon corresponding end portions of vertically standing motion control rods 26-26. The rods 26-26 are equipped at their opposite upper and lower ends with spur gears 28- 28 engaging rearwardly running gear racks 30-30 which are fixed to upper and lower wall portions respectively of the cabinet structure as indicated vat 31. The control rods 26-26 are arranged to exten'd at their upper and lower ends beyond the gears 28-28 to slidinglyengage thereat in guide grooves 32, 34 formed in the ceiling and floor portions respectively of the cabinet structure. Hence the door panels are freely pivotable about Vertical axes defined by the hinge connection devices 22-22; and when the panels are disposed in cabinet-open or forwardly extending positions, the panels may thereupon be caused to "disappear into the cabinet side wall structure simply by pressing them to retreat rearwardly thereinto.

The extending end portions of the control rods 26-26 are equipped with slide knobs 36-36 formed of lowfn'ction material such as nylon or the like, arranged to slide in the grooves 32, 34; and the door panels 20-20 'are each provided adjacent their forward ends and at the .upper and lower edges thereof with low-friction slides or rollers 38-38 also formed of nylon or the like, which also run in the guide grooves 32, 34, respectively. The slide rollers 38-38 are mounted on' the door panels as by means of screws or the like as indicated at 39.

Thus it will be appreciated that commencing from a door-closed position as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, the front doorv cover or closure panels 20-20 may be initially swung open as illustrated in FIG. 3; and then when the door panels are in straight-forwardly extending positions they may be manually propelled to disappear rearwardly into the interior of the cabinet by simply pressing rearwardly against any conveniently available portions of the door panels. Such pressures may be applied against either the upper or lower or intermediate front edge portions of the door panels; and in any event, the control rods 26 and the spur gears 28-28 carried thereby willinsure that the door panels will retreat into the interior of the cabinet at equal rates at the upper and lower levels thereof, thereby avoiding any tendencies of the door panels to '*bind or rub against other parts of the cabinet interior. Conversely, when the door panels are subsequently pulled outwardly, preliminary to swnging them upon their hinge pintles 22-22 into cabinet-closing positions, the control rod and gear mechanisms 26, 28 will again operate to equalize the rates of travel of the upper and lower portions of the door panels so as to cause them to move smoothly and without frictional interferences or *binding against adjacent structure.

It is a particular feature of the present invention that the guide channel portions 32-32 in the ceiling panel portion 14 of the cabinet structure, are terminated at the front end of the cabinet structure by means of funnelshaped brackets 40-40 (FIGS. 1, 6, 7). The brackets 40-40 are each of generally flat plate form apertured as indicated at 42 to accommodate locking screws 44 (FIGS. 6, 7) whereby it will be appreciated the brackets are laterally shiftable and then lmay be locked on the cabinet structure by means of the screws 44 so that the brackets will accommodate and positionally guide the rollers 38 at the top edges of the door panels when the latter are pulled outwardly of the cabinet structure, into any preferred finely-adjusted positions laterally of the fore-aft center lines of the upper guide grooves 32, 32 in the ceiling structure. To assist in this respect the funnel brackets 40 are provided with funnel-shaped fiange portions 46,-46 (FIGS. 6, 7) and the guide grooves 32, 32 in the ceiling structure preferably fiare out as indicated at 48-48 (FIG. 6) to encompass the outlet areas between the flanges 46-- 46, regardless of the shifted positions of the funnel brackets 40.

It will be appreciated from the above that the door support system of the present invention permits, as a final assembly operation, positional in-plane adjustments (when the doors are closed) so as to dispose the doors relative to the cabinet front framing structure as to provide, in front view, uniformly dimensioned open space areas between the marginal edges of the door panels and the cabinet from frame structure. Thus, Optimum front view appearance is assured when the doors are closed; and as an incident thereto the doors are supported so as to move freely into and out of 'flush front face closing positions relative to the cabinet structure, without any rubbing or binding between the relatively moving parts.

It is another feature of the invention that the mechanism thereof supports the door panels so that when they are swung into closed positions the panels per se are inplane angularly disposed so that the Vertical and horizontal edge portions of the panels are precisely parallel to the front frame structure of the cabinet, as well as to one another. Also, as shown herein, the racks 30-30 are provided with slot-shaped apertures accommodating their mounting screws, so that the racks are positionally shiftable laterally When Viewed from the front of the cabinet. Thus, before finally fixing the racks in the cabinet they may be positioned so as to angularly adjust the door panels to avoid interferences thereof with the cabinet structure when the panels are moving rearwardly into 'disappearing positions. Also, such adjustments of the racks 30-30 may be made, incidental to final assembly of the cabinet, so as to relatively adjust the front surfaces of the dual door panels into co-planar relation, and in *'flush relation to the adjacent cabinet front framing surfaces.

Thus, it will be appreciated that by virtue of the present invention, when the cabinet parts are being finally assembled, regardless of inadvertent dimensional deviations of the manufactured parts, they may be readily installed so that the marginal open spaces between the door panels and the cabinet frame structure, as well as the planar relationship of the dual door panels, may be properly adjusted, with utmost case and facility. Also, it will of course be understood that although only one form of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail hereinabove, various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a cabinet of the console type comprsing a cabinet structure of open front form and having a door panel mounted thereon to be hingedly movable along one edge between a cabinet-closing position and a forwardly-outstanding cabinet-open .position whereupon said closure is in-plane bodily movable rearwardly to a substantially concealed position in said cabinet;

the improvement consisting of support mechanism for said door panel comprsing:

first an'd second pairs of pivotally interconnected hinge members disposed in spaced relation along said one edge of the door panel and defining a Vertical pivot aXis for the door panel; each pair having one of said hinge members fixed to said door panel and the other extending rearwardly therefrom;

a vertically standing motion control rod carried by the other of said hinge members; said control rod carrying spur gears adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof, said spur gears operatively meshing with gear racks mounted respectively adjacent the ceiling and fioor structural parts of said cabinet, whereby to equalize the rate of displacement movements of the upper and lower portions of said door panel when moving in and out of concealed positions in said cabinet;

guide track devices in the ceiling and fioor portions respectively of the cabinet structure, slidably engaging the upper and lower ends of said control rod;

slide members carried by said door panel in alignment with said Vertical axis and received in said guide track devices;

and a guide bracket mounted in the ceiling portion of said cabinet structure in alignment with forward movements of the upper of said slide members for terminating the outward displacement movements of said door panel at a prescribed position relative to sai'd cabinet structure.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said gear rack means are positionally adjustable relative to said cabinet both laterally and angularly relative thereto.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said guide bracket is positionally adjustable in said cabinet so as to permit angular adjustments of said door panel when closed relative to said cabinet front opening.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the upper of said guide track devices is widened at its outer end, said guide bracket being mounted for lateral shifted position relative to said widened end of the upper guide bracket.

5. In a cabinet structure having an opening,

a door panel for said opening,

means pivotally mounting said door panel along one edge thereof for movement between a closed position and an open position displaced from said closed position, and including means for guiding said ydoor panel while in said open position to an inwardly projected concealed position within said cabinet, the last mentioned means including guide tracks within said cabinet and guide members adjacent the corners of one edge of the door received in said guide tracks,

a wedge-shaped guide bracket mounted in said cabinet adjacent the outer end of one of said guide tracks, sai'd one guide track being widened adjacent said guide bracket, and means for laterally shifting said guide bracket with respect to said one guide track whereby the angularity of said door panel with respect to the opening may be adjusted.

6. In a cabinet structure having an opening,

a door panel for said opening,

guide tracks within said cabnet extending inwardly from adjacent one end of said opening,

a pair of hinge members pivotally connected in spaced apart relation to and along one edge of said door panel,

a control rod extending between the free ends of said hinge members,

first slide members carried by said control rod and engaged in said guide tracks,

and second slide member carried by said -door and engaged in said guide tracks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Thompson 312-321 Vanderplank 312-322 Gates 312-322 Koch et al. 312-348 Di Christen et al 312-331 DAVID I. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primr'aly Examner. JAMES T. MCCALL, Examiner. 

1. IN A CABINET OF THE CONSOLE TYPE COMRPISING A CABINET STRUCTURE OF OPEN FRONT FORM AND HAVING A DOOR PANEL MOUNTED THEREON TO BE HINGEDLY MOVABLE ALONG ONE EDGE BETWEEN A CABINET-OPEN POSITION AND A FORWARDLY-OUTSTANDING CABINET-OPEN POSITION WHEREUPON SAID CLOSURE IS IN-PLANE BODILY MOVABLE REARWARDLY TO A SUBSTANTIALLY CONCEALED POSITION IN SAID CABINET; THE IMPROVEMENT CONSISTING OF SUPPORT MECHANISM FOR SAID DOOR PANEL COMPRRISING; FIRST AND SECOND PAIRS OF PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTED HINGE MEMBERS DISPOSED IN SPACED RELATION ALONG SAID ONE EDGE OF THE DOOR PANEL AND DEFINING A VERTICAL PIVOT AXIS FOR THE DOOR PANEL; EACH PAIR HAVING ONE OF SAID HINGED MEMBER FIXED TO SAID DOOR PANEL AND THE OTHER EXTENDING REARWARDLY THEREFROM; A VERTICALLY STANDING MOTION CONTROL ROD CARRIED BY THE OTHER OF SAID HINGE MEMBERS; SAID CONTROL ROD CARRYING SPUR GEARS ADJACENT THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS THEREOF, SAID SPUR GEARS OPERATIVELY MESHING WITH GEAR RACKS MOUNTED RESPECTIVELY ADJACENT THE CEILING AND FLOOR STRUCTURAL PARTS OF SAID CABINET, WHEREBY TO EQUALIZE THE RATE OF DISPLACEMENT MOVEMENTS OF THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS OF SAID DOOR PANEL WHEN MOVING IN AND OUT OF CONCEALED POSITIONS IN SAID CABINET; GUIDE TRACK DEVICES IN THE CEILING AND FLOOR PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY OF THE CABINET STRUCTURE, SLIDABLY ENGAGING THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF SAID CONTROL ROD; SLIDE MEMBERS CARRIED BY SAID DOOR PANEL IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID VERTICAL AXIS AND RECEIVED IN SAID GUIDE TRACK DEVICES; AND A GUIDE BRACKET MOUNTED IN THE CEILING PORTION OF SAID CABINET STRUCTURE IN ALIGNMENT WITH FORWARD MOVEMENTS OF THE UPPER OF SAID SLIDE MEMBERS FOR TERMINATING THE OUTWARD DISPLACEMENT MOVEMENTS OF SAID DOOR PANEL AT A PRESCRIBED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID CABINET STRUCTURE. 